Restaurant returns huge accidental tip on dinner

If you overtip at Claudine’s Eatery in Fredericton, New Brunswick, expect to get a phone call—or at least a post about it on Facebook. A loyal patron of the restaurant received just such an online alert—and a reimbursement of her money—after accidentally leaving a $70 tip on a $55 bill.

It all started when Dianne Doucette dined on liver and onions at Claudine’s last week. The Fredericton resident had dinner with her husband and 101-year-old mother, and when it came time to pay, Doucette pulled out a credit card and typed in a $7 tip for the $55 meal.

At least she meant to type in $7, but somehow ended up tacking on an extra zero and leaving $70 instead.

It wasn’t until the next morning that restaurant co-owner Claudine Cyr noticed her cash was off by about that amount. After sorting through the bills, she discovered the error. Cyr’s daughter and co-owner of the restaurant Leonie Gillingham snapped a pic of the receipt and posted it to Facebook, where it was quickly shared more than 1,200 times.

“We knew it was a mistake, and we knew we weren’t going to stop until we found the rightful owner of that little-too-large of a tip,” Gillingham told CTV Atlantic.

Amazingly, it only took an afternoon for the message to reach Doucette, reports the CBC. After noticing the post on Facebook, Doucette went in to collect the money and decided to leave $10 for the restaurant.

“I think they’re very honest and that was an amazing thing for them to do,” Doucette told the CBC.

She also confirmed that she will be returning for the liver and onions because they are “the best.”